6575 Results for “production”
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“We Brought the Fear, He Brought the Loathing”: Best of Enemies | Directors Morgan Neville and Robert Gordon
What fear — whether it’s personal, or one related to the development, financing, production or distribution of your film — did you have to confront and conquer in the making of your movie? It’s heady air in the worlds of William F. Buckley and Gore Vidal, two esteemed public intellectuals of, mostly, the latter 20th century. Buckley died before we began this film but Gore was alive, if in his declining years. Cantankerous and mean in his prime, he’d commented on his own persona saying, “Beneath my cold exterior, once you break the ice, you find cold water.” Gore not only didn’t […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 23, 2015 -
Cinematographer Adam McDaid on Shooting Kevin Pollak’s Sundance Doc, Misery Loves Comedy
Do you have to miserable to be funny? That’s the question asked by Kevin Pollak’s, Misery Loves Comedy, screening at Sundance as a Special Event. And, appropriately for a film containing 50 interviews of funny people ranging from Jimmy Fallon and Judd Apatow to Penn Jillette and Lewis Black, cinematographer Adam McDaid’s job was to work quickly, make the people look good and allow their stories to come through transparently. Below, he talks about all of that as well as what to do when faced with a wall of sun-lit windows. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jan 23, 2015 -
“I Wanted the Film to Feel Like a Christmas Tree Ornament from your Attic”: Charles Poekel on Sundance NEXT Film Christmas Again
With Charles Poekel’s charmingly melancholy debut, Christmas, Again, the independent film maxim “write what you know” gains a corollary: “write what you can learn.” For his tale of a withdrawn Christmas tree salesmen just trying to get through the season, again, Poekel gained knowledge of his protagonist’s trade by opening and operating his own stand in Greenpoint — a job he’s still doing five years later. Defiantly non-melodramatic and with the well-worn feel of a ’70s New York character study, Christmas, Again has both poetry and an unprepossessing air. In other words, it’s a perfect holiday visitor. Christmas, Again premiered […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jan 23, 2015 -
“I’ve Been in Shootouts”: Cartel Land | Director Matt Heineman
What fear — whether it’s personal, or one related to the development, financing, production or distribution of your film — did you have to confront and conquer in the making of your movie? Cartel Land follows two modern-day vigilante groups fighting a shared enemy – the ruthless Mexican drug cartels. When I first heard about the Autodefensas movement in Michoacán, Mexico, and the American paramilitary group Arizona Border Recon, I was immediately drawn to know more about their worlds and their leaders, Dr. Jose Mireles (“El Doctor”) and Tim “Nailer” Foley. It took many months to gain their trust and the access I […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 22, 2015 -
“The Director is the Film’s Immune System”: How to Change the World | Director Jerry Rothwell
What fear — whether it’s personal, or one related to the development, financing, production or distribution of your film — did you have to confront and conquer in the making of your movie? Fear is a constant companion when filmmaking, in my experience. I’ve learned to welcome it, as a sign that I‘m pushing my own boundaries a bit, not retreating into the easiest option. The absence of that nagging background anxiety is a sign I may have settled for less than I should have. With How To Change the World the biggest fear was about the narrative: whether the complex story […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 22, 2015 -
“Much of What We Do is Spycraft”: Racing Extinction | Director Louie Psihoyos
What fear — whether it’s personal, or one related to the development, financing, production or distribution of your film — did you have to confront and conquer in the making of your movie? “Racing Extinction is like The Avengers but real, but you might want to bring Kleenex.” There’s an annoying film industry “truism” that a director’s second film after a successful first will be a bust. A well known and respected Hollywood director told me, “Don’t even try to make another movie after The Cove, you’ll never top that one.” We didn’t break any box office records with The Cove but […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 22, 2015 -
Cinematographer Dominique Colin on Shooting the Sundance World Competition Film, The Summer of Sangaile
From Lithuania and screening in Sundance’s World Cinema Dramatic Competition, The Sound of Sangaile is a film that fuses a teenage girl’s coming-of-age story with a fantasy of flight. With a protagonist obsessed with stunt planes and plenty of aerial photography, Alante Kavaite’s feature posed challenges to cinematographer Dominique Colin — whose credits include, I must note, two masterpieces and personal favorites by Gaspar Noe (Carne and I Stand Alone). Below, Colin discusses those challenges and more. The Sound of Sangaile premieres on Sundance’s opening day, Thursday, January 22. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the cinematographer […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jan 22, 2015 -
“Someone Always Has to Compromise”: Peter Strickland on The Duke of Burgundy
With The Duke of Burgundy, the cinephilic English director Peter Strickland has made his third — and perhaps best — film to playfully riff on genre conventions. What begins as a bloodless tale of mistress and maid blossoms into a poignant, cyclical exploration of a couple’s inability to compromise on sexual predilections. Best experienced with an uninitiated pair of eyes, The Duke of Burgundy is an increasingly rare film that, for all its reflexive homages and aural intricacies, never forgoes substance for style. Filmmaker spoke to Strickland about scripting tone, genre aesthetics, and the ways in which his film aims to […]
by Sarah Salovaara on Jan 22, 2015 -
“Fear Will Keep Me Cool and Calm”: The Chinese Mayor | Producer Qi Zhao
What fear — whether it’s personal, or one related to the development, financing, production or distribution of your film — did you have to confront and conquer in the making of your movie? I have learned to be fearless in my career as an independent documentary producer in China. There is almost no public funding to support independent documentaries, there are very few theatrical permits issued to independent documentaries and there is virtually no distribution platform for independent documentary either. If these are the reasons to fear, it will be endless. Personally, fear for me is a mixed feeling of anxiety to […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 22, 2015 -
“The Party Had So Often Been Misportrayed”: The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution | Director Stanley Nelson
What fear — whether it’s personal, or one related to the development, financing, production or distribution of your film — did you have to confront and conquer in the making of your movie? Early in the development phase of this project, I was apprehensive about approaching former Black Panther Party members because the Party had so often been misportrayed by popular media. I had a great fear of being turned down and not having any former Party members be part of the film at all. At some point I decided this was a film that needed to be made and in order […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 22, 2015
